Welcome back

We are glad to announce that the site is now back online, having been out of action for as a precaution due to unsuccessful attempts to compromise site security.The site administrator, Barbara LeBlanc, is also back online having been out of action for a while.

Registering new artists

If you would like to display your art on Local Artist, please use the new member form to register interest to display your art on the site. It is, of course, free of charge, but for technical security reasons, we are unable to allow users to self-register.

Peter Paul Rubens, the Seventeenth century Flemish Baroque painter and contemporary of Caravaggio, painted bodies as they would not wish to be seen in the present day. Full-bodied women's curves were never underdone: at least he was honest, and never short of models.

His religious paintings show something of the influence of Caravaggio's dramatic lighting, but his portraiture was realistic and reflective of his straightforward nature. Nothing is hidden, not even the less attractive of aspects within a family which owe nothing to physical appearances.

An exhibition of his works begins this month (October, 2005) and lasts until January 2006 at the National Gallery, London.